“You are not alone’ Joe Wicks
So, after a mentally challenging weekend where my mood dropped significantly (resulting in a partial “duvet” day), Monday came with not the brightest start.
As the day moved on I began feeling a little brighter, even optimistic, and by the early evening I was starting to feel more like my normal self again.
Proud of some work that I had achieved that day, I shared it with a few people. One really helpful person came back with some immense, intense information and ideas.
As deeply grateful that I was to receive such great business ideas and advice, it threw me into another tailspin when I had barely recovered from my weekend funk.
I decided to leave it there and tackle pages and pages of ideas the following day ...
Clicking on links
Writing down ideas on my 10ft by 10ft magnetic drywipe board. (it’s not quite THAT big, but it’s big)
Tuesday I worked diligently through without distractions until around 2.30pm and decided that a bit of exercise may stop my head from blowing off my neck!
Although I had achieved a fair amount of work I still felt like I was light years away from knowing all that I NEED to know to be fully ready for the world.
Are we ever ready ... or fully dressed dressed without a smile?
(love a bit of Annie)
I flicked onto YouTube and decided that some low-impact “something or other” workout was the one for me.
The one I chose was called “Island Vibes”.
My rotating hips didn’t look half as sexy as the size 4’s on the telly, but I was trying... and a sweat was building up!
The jogging pants came off and it was me and the cat in my trainers, knickers and vest. Good job the room was at the back of the house for all those passers by on my street!
After my “Island Vibes”, I didn’t feel I had pushed myself enough, so decided Joe Wicks Weight Workout would finish me off!
Whilst side-swiping I noticed a clip that said:
“Struggling with my mental health: You are not alone.”
It was Joe Wicks.
It had 74k views and was made six days ago.
At 3:59 mins in length I thought I would lift my 3kg weights and lunge (ever the multitasker) whilst listening to what he had to say!
No surprise he was heartfelt, a bit emotional and real ... very, very real.
[Backstory: Throughout lockdown Joe kept many British youngsters and in fact families all over the world entertained. He offered messages of hope for us all. He set us impossible challenges. Making me frog jump and do 20 spider lunges out the living room.....hurtling into the kitchen at age 50, the likes of which had never been seen before.]
Here he was again, this time six months on from when he started, giving the same message of hope.
But this time he was different. Sad, a little melancholy. He admitted to his own recent struggle that he could see no end to “all this” and his feeling of not being able to plan or be excited about things was really sincere, you could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. He expressed missing family and friends and being out and about in his local community.
His advice was, of course, to look after your own mental health, 20 minutes of exercise, and plenty of fresh air. Stay off the couch with the junk food and booze (easier said than done, Joe).
It made me realise that we really are in this together. So many people close to me are now unemployed. Nothing can be planned with any certainty and as a nation and a world there are some that have lost everything. Somedays I really find it so hard to even think about.
I tell myself it is still ok to have a bloody good cry ... maybe for yourself or maybe for the collective. As an empath it’s hard to get through a day without my tear ducts being challenged before bursting.
I don’t really know why I decided to sit here in my knickers and trainers next to the cat, post-workout, and type this on my phone ...but I did.
I really, really want you to know if you are reading this, it’s ok to be scared, frightened and completely overwhelmed. If today is not your day, try again tomorrow.
Time to shower and put some clothes on.....I’ve potatoes to peel and those buggers aren’t going to peel themselves.
For those that want to watch the video clip, here it is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya32pWNh-8E&t=6s
Any further advice on ways to improve your mental health starting with your home environment click here.
With love and gratitude
